I just finished a small series of paintings on cigar boxes. Typically, I hate to explain my work. I like for my work to remain ambiguous, allowing for the viewer to bring their own meaning to each piece. This series, however, revolves around a common theme, so I wanted to actually take a minute to write a bit about them. This series features women interacting with small birds, which on the surface may seem rather straightforward, I wanted to give you some background on some of the ideas I had while working on this collection in order to help put it in context.

Birds in mythology are often spiritual messengers and are associated with the soul.  The birds are there to bring a message of comfort, hope and cheer. Perhaps, the nurturing of something more delicate than one’s self helps in the healing of wounds inflicted by the callousness of the world. I also associate small birds with the health of the environment.  When miners would dig in the earth, they would bring small songbirds with them.  These fragile birds, being more sensitive to toxins in the air, would be the first indicator of poisonous fumes that could be released through careless mining. If the bird died, the miners would know that they had to reach the surface quickly or suffer the same fate.  Even in our modern day world, the first signs of the declining health of the ecosystem can be seen in the death of the smallest of these animals.

The girls in these paintings at first seem to be wounded. Battered and a bit worn down. The presence of the birds, however, points at the resilience of these women.  There is a sense of comfort and peace that accompanies them, and in some cases the bird represent a defiance in the face of adversity. Like the canary in the mine, the healthy presence of these birds indicates the continued survival of the subject of the painting. More importantly, the birds bring with them a message of hope; even though they may be damaged on the outside, the core of their self endures.

If you are interested in any of the pieces in this series, contact Sandra at Cactus Gallery : http://cactusgallery.blogspot.com/

Thanks for looking!

As anyone who follows me already knows, I’m notably horrible at updating things online.  So, I’ve decided to try and make something of an effort at it this year.  I’ll post the more edited and collected thoughts here, if you’re interested in all of the inane things I post about, then you may want to follow me on facebook, twitter, tumblr or flickr.  Pick your poison.   I may seem a bit quiet as the year begins, but never fear!  I have a few projects that I’m just beginning work on and I will reveal more about it when I have something worthwhile to show you.  Suffice to say at the moment while I am finishing a few paintings for people to whom they have been promised, I’m also sketching and planning to finally begin this project which I’ve been wanting to get started for years now.  I’ve bought and cut wood.  Oh yes, it will happen!

          In the meantime, you can still find some of the small paintings I made just for the holidays at KALEID Gallery and at Psycho Donuts (the picture above is of one of them, which has happily already found her new home).  I also always have a few things at Modern Eden available online and at the Gallery.  So there you go!  Now let’s see if I manage to post here again in a timely fashion. Fingers crossed

Okay, it’s a fact.  I am taking forever to get everything together and update this site for real.  But in the meantime, I have work that is new, and you can see it!  I just had a solo show at the fantastic Anno Domini and although the show is down, you can still look at the artwork (and buy it if you so desire) here: http://www.galleryad.com/art/archives/art/backroom/lacey_bryant/

The Sleepwalkers oil on door 2012

I am also very happy to have a new painting in the current group show “Myth” at Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco.  You can view that painting as well as the other work I have available at that lovely gallery here: http://www.moderneden.com/collections/lacey-bryant

The Fates oil on panel 2012

I will be sending more work down to the Cactus Gallery in Eagle Rock soon and I’m excited to be putting together a solo show there early next year!  More details on that later.

I also have a couple of little pieces in the current show at Tasty in Seattle, and I hope to send a few more things up there for the next few group shows.

For those of you in the South Bay area, I do always have work on display at KALEID Gallery in Downtown San Jose, and I usually have work up at Psycho Donuts in Campbell as well.

I’ve recently painted an electrical box at the corner of Dana & Naglee in San Jose as a part of the Art Box SJ project.  They’ve made a lovely map of all of the box locations (and are adding to it as more artists finish painting boxes) so if you’d like to take a tour you’ve got a handy starting point.

Make Room for all Things acrylic on electrical box 2012

I’m currently working on finishing up some commissioned projects and getting work together for the next few group shows before my crazy busy season of haunted house painting.  I’m also going to be working on a number of small scale work just for the winter season, which will be available at 5 or 6 different places, more info on where and when later.  Meanwhile, I’m trying to make time for weekly hiking trips and plenty of reading to recharge my brain. Over and out!

The website is undergoing major overhaul today.  The site is being redone to allow me to more easily update this page regularly and focus more on what I want to share with you. Bare with me. So some links might be down these next few days.

Opening Reception January 21st, 2012 6-9pm

on exhibit  January 21-February 5 at Modern Eden Gallery

403 Francisco St. San Francisco, CA 94133

RSVP on Facebook

Modern Eden Gallery is pleased to announce “Soliloquies from the Silent Country”, new paintings and sculptures by San Jose artist Lacey Bryant. The opening reception will be held at Modern Eden on Saturday, January 21st from 6-9 pm. Live music will be provided by acclaimed Folk group “The Wild Reeds” [http://www.myspace.com/thewildreeds], and complimentary drinks by Quail Oak Winery will be served to our 21+ guests. The exhibition will be on display through February 5, 2012 and is free and open to the public.

Theatrically posed and surrounded by lush, illusory environments, the subjects of Lacey’s works are like illustrations in a picture book written in an unknown language. The images are somewhat familiar but certain elements remains foreign. Like a hazy dream of an imagined childhood long forgotten, the images strive to make you feel as if you just might have been there once, maybe. The stage is set in an imagined world of natural beauty beneath ominously stormy skies. It is a world poised between now and once upon a time.

The use of symbolism gives the work a universal language although many of the symbols can be interpreted in several different ways. Certain motifs are repeated throughout the works such as birds and insects, roots, branches or veins, string, theatre curtains and abandoned objects. Often emitting from the haunting subjects of her work, these symbols represent desires, feelings and afflictions. Lacey’s subjects are often blind to their own dilemmas or at least are unaware of how to change their circumstances. Curtains remind us that we are peering in on a world as artificial as our own. These images are invented to confront issues such as connection, longing, frailty, time and our own mortality.

As is common in Lacey’s work, there is a subtle tension between beautiful and unsettling elements. Though the settings are usually very light and airy there is a certain heaviness in the atmosphere and a distinct melancholy about the girls with wild hair and confrontational stares. We are presented with things we are uncomfortable with-spiders, holes, cracks and decay. This contrast is constructed to create a sense of mystery and mood, enticing the viewer to linger and embrace their own hidden dark sides or even to find the beauty in something that scares us.

Located in San Francisco’s historic North Beach, Modern Eden was opened in June 2010. Local artists Bradley Platz and Kim Larson are Co-Owners and Gallery Directors. Modern Eden Gallery has quickly become one of San Francisco’s most exciting and attractive destinations for art. Modern Eden showcases talent-driven art by San Francisco’s top emerging and established artists. Modern Eden focuses on figurative and illustrative paintings in genres ranging from realism to surrealism. You can visit the gallery at 403 Francisco Street Wednesday through Sunday 11 am-7 pm or anytime on-line at www.moderneden.com.

I have work in a few shows this July. Hooray!

Treasures of the Sea

at Cactus Gallery 4

534 Eagle Rock Blvd. Eagle Rock, CA 90041 – 323.256.6117

July 9-August 9   Opening Reception July 9th, 7-10 pm

Tecnoganic

at Tasty Gallery

7513 Greenwood Ave. N Seattle, WA 98103 206-706-3020

July 8-Aug 4  Opening Reception July 8th, 6pm

Click the image to buy directly from Tasty!

The New Surrealism: A Collection of Strange

at Modern Eden

403 Francisco Street San Francisco, CA 94133

July 16-Aug 13  Opening Reception July16th, 7pm

Click the image to buy directly from Modern Eden!

Mischief

at Studio Gallery

1815 Polk St San Francisco, CA 94109 415-931-3130

July 13-Aug 7  Opening Reception July 17 2-6pm

Thanks for reading!

I’ll be showing a new cigar box painting at  Modern Eden Gallery in the city this Saturday.  It’s a really beautiful space, I hope you’ll come see!

I’ve also still got a few cigar box paintings available at Cactus Gallery in L.A. at their “Have You Seen the Trees? show.  Click the image to see the gallery of available works there.

February 25th 7-10pm
Art, food & music!
The Usuals
1020 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
www.shoptheusuals.com

DREAMSCAPE Preview

The new website is being built up, that means the galleries are still not working. You can check out a ton of pieces I have uploaded to my flickr.
Here’s a preview of a new piece for my show at the usuals this Feb 25th.

More information  here

I’ve been experimenting with watercolors! I just finished a set of 20 little pencil/watercolor paintings, you can see all of them here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilrobot42/sets/72157623870100394/

I’m mailing them off to Cactus Gallery in LA tomorrow morning. www.eclecticcactus.com

These are sort of little tests for larger oil paintings I’m going to start working on next month as soon as I get my panels built. I’m reusing the wood from the shelves of the sketchbook show, heh heh, heh.